Fire And Leaves
by A.W.Epiphany
Summary: On the same day Ash Ketchum left Pallet town to become a Pokemon master Leaf also took her first steps to become a champion. Follow Leafs story as she earns badges, captures Pokemon and deals with her jerk of a rival. Will she make to the Indigo League? Or will she be overcome by doubts?
1. Shades of a new Journey

Professor Oak stood staring out his window with a freshly made cup of coffee in his hand. Today was a big day in pallet town, it was the day four young inhabitants would choose their first pokemon and step out into the world as pokemon trainers. Everyone was always exited about this event and came along to cheer for the trainers and wish them luck on their journey, but no one was ever more exited than the rookie trainers themselves of course.

In fact, this was the reason professor oak was up so early, the new trainers were scheduled to arrive in two hours time but one of them had shown up at the crack of dawn before Oak had even changed out of his pajamas! The boy had asked him questions about the starter pokemon and whether any of the other children had decided on which one they had chosen, professor Oak informed him that his grandson had and there were only two others to choose from, instead of the boy being upset as Oak had expected, he seemed delighted at this, chosen his pokemon and left without another word.

A knock on the door for a second time this morning brought the professor out of his daydreaming.

"Another early riser? My, this years bunch really are keen!"

He smiled with nostalgia as he put down his coffee and went to answer the door… and was greeted by a floating pink ball.

"Whoa!"

"Hi professor!" The ball moved away to reveal a ten year old girl with blue eyes and a white fishing hat covering her long brown hair.

"I'm here for my first pokemon!"

"Oh its you Leaf." Oak sighed as Leaf ran past him, placed the pink ball (which was in fact, a Jigglypuff) on the ground next to her and turned to him excitedly.

"So? Where are they?"

"Err, right about the pokemon…"

But Leaf wasn't listening as she had already seen the pokeballs placed on the table and ran towards them before Professor Oak could finish what he was saying.

"Wow! Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander. All three starters!"

Leaf picked up the pokeball with a flame sticker on it.

"I've been thinking long and hard about this and I finally made my mind up on who I want as my first team member. Charmander, I choose you!" Leaf held the pokeball up and posed dramatically with Jigglypuff watching with anticipation behind her. They stayed frozen like that until Leaf realized that nothing was happening.

"Uh…Charmander? Hey, what's wrong with this thing!" She cried, as she began shaking the pokeball in the hopes that it would invoke some kind of reaction.

"Try pressing the button in the middle." Oak suggested.

Leaf blushed, conscious of how foolish she had just made herself look, Jigglypuff sighed irritably. Leaf pushed on the button as Oak said and the pokeball opened up to reveal… the inside of an empty pokeball. "HUH?!" Leaf gasped. "W-Where's my Charmander?!"

Professor Oak coughed to get her attention."As I was trying to tell you as you came in, two of the starters have already been chosen and there's only one left."

"But I got here extra early so I could have first pick!" Leaf cried frantically.

"Yes, well I already had one of the pokemon reserved for my grandson you see, and as for the second it seems your friend Green…"

"He's not my friend!" Leaf practically growled. How she hated that jerk!

"…had the same idea you and arrived about ten minutes ago. He's most likely already on his way to Viridian by now."

"But I wanted a Charizard..." Leaf sobbed.

"It could be worse." Professor Oak exclaimed. "At least you get a pokemon, the final trainer won't be as lucky. Come to think of it I probably should have ordered more than just one each of the starter pokemon." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, wondering why he didn't think of getting more than three pokemon to share between four trainers _before_ the day he handed them out.

Meanwhile, Leaf was getting impatient. _"_Professor! What about my pokemon?!"

Professor Oak jumped . Suddenly remembering where he was. "Oh, right!" He picked up one of the pokeballs and handed it to Leaf. She looked at the pokeball and noted that fittingly, it had a sticker of a green leaf on it.

"A grass type… Bulbasaur!" She pressed the button and the pokeball opened, flashing a red energy from which a Bulbasaur emerged.

"Bulbasaur!" It said.

"I was hoping to get a Charmander but a Bulbasaur's just as good." Leaf kneeled down and petted Bulbasaur who looked a little nervous to see a stranger.

"Hi Bulbasaur. My name is Leaf and I'm going to be your trainer from now on okay?"

Bulbasaur still looked a little unsure when he noticed Jigglypuff walking up to greet him.

"Oh, and this is Puff. She's my best friend." Leaf told him. Puff began speaking to Bulbasaur in Pokemon language, attempting to sooth his nerves and let him know that Leaf is someone he can trust, it seemed to work as Bulbasaur smiled at them both and looked happier. Leaf grinned as well, glad her new team member and old friend were getting on so well.

"It looks like your all getting off to a good start." Professor Oak had been watching them get acquainted with each other.

"Yep! I know we're all going to get along great and be the best team ever!"

"Well then here you go. Your pokedex and five pokeballs to get you started. Your pokedex, also known as Dexter, has information on every pokemon you will meet on your journey and also acts as your trainer ID. Pokeballs, as you should know, are used to capture pokemon and carry them with you on your journeys."

"Thank you professor." Leaf took the pokedex and pokeballs from him and made for the door, Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff trailing behind her. "I gotta get going now, I have to catch up with Green. See you, professor!"

"Goodbye." Oak waved to her as she ran out the door. "And good luck!"

"Alright, lets see how this works." Leaf was sat down on the grass, fiddling with the pokedex as Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff looked on. They were currently sat right by the path way out of town, close to route 1 but still within the borders of Pallet town.

"I think I got it…there we go." Leaf pressed a button and the pokedex suddenly switched on.

_Bulbasaur. The seed pokemon. It carries a seed on its back from birth. By soaking up the sun rays, this seed grows progressively larger. _

"Cool! What about you Puff?" Leaf pointed the pokedex at Jigglypuff and Dexter activated once again.

_Jigglypuff. The balloon pokemon. When its huge eyes light up, it sings a soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep. _

"You're still struggling along all the way back here? What, are you lost already?"

Leaf tensed at the familiar voice and turned to see a serious looking boy with dirty blond hair wearing a jacket that matched both his eyes and his name. "Green!"

"Route 1 is that way. You'll never get anywhere sitting around in the middle of the road."

"For you information I'm not in the middle of the road I'm _next _tothe road. And I was stopping to check out my pokedex." It was at that point Leaf noticed the Charmander standing next to Green, quietly listening to the conversation between the two rivals. "Hold on… you chose Charmander on purpose didn't you!"

"On purpose? As apposed to me choosing Charmander by accident?"

"You know what I mean! You only had two choices and you chose the one that would give you a type advantage over me. Besides, you knew I wanted a Charizard…"

Green shrugged, feigning innocence, although the huge smirk plastered across his face ruined the image somewhat. "I have no idea what you mean. Pesky girl, always so suspicious"

"Alright that is it! I don't care about the type disadvantage; I challenge you to a battle!"

Leaf raised her hand ready to give Bulbasaur a command when she was tackled unexpectedly from behind.

"OhLeafThankgoodnessIdidn'tmissyouIwouldhavebeenso sadifIcouldn,tsaygoodbyebeforeyouleft!"

"Hi Daisy…" Leaf struggled to escape the excitable womans grip so she could breathe again. Fortunately Daisy let go of her before she suffocated to death and Leaf noticed her dad standing next to them patiently waiting for their next door neighbour to finish her display of affection.

"When I was packing your bag for you I forgot to pack my special made pokefood for your pokemon. There's a recipe book too, for when you want to make your own on your journey."

"Thanks dad."

"So, a Bulbasaur?" He knelt down and petted the seed pokemon, who warmed up to him instantly.

"I take it your taking Jigglypuff along with you?"

"Yep. You know what Puffs like, always by my side. Right Puff?"

"Jiggly!"

"We'll then I've nothing to worry about have I?"

"I bought this for you Leaf!" Daisy enthusiastically shoved a cuboid shaped object in front of Leafs face, effectively interrupting the conversation.

"Um, what is it?"

"It's a town map. It will come in very handy on your travels; we wouldn't want you to get lost."

"Thanks, but what about you brother? Shouldn't you give one to him too?" Leaf turned back to look at Green but he was already walking away. "Hey, hold on!"

Green held up an identical map without turning around or stopping. "Already got one. I can look after myself, unlike you."

Leaf looked like she was about to challenge him again when Daisy put her hand on her shoulder. "Just ignore him, you know how he gets. He's only trying to invoke a reaction out of you."

"I know. He just really gets on my nerves is all. I wish I knew what I did to make him start treating me like this." Leaf looked sad for a moment until she realised what she was doing and shook herself out of it. "But anyway who cares about him. I have way more important things to think about right now."

"That's my little Shaymin." Leafs father smiled warmly at his only daughter. "You know where your going right? North to Viridian and through the forest to reach Pewter city?"

"Don't worry dad, I know what I'm doing." Leaf looked behind her and saw that Green was already out of sight. "Aah! I forgot about Green! No way am I going to let him beat me again!" She began to jog towards route 1, stuffing the food and map in her bag as she went. "Sorry, but I need to get going. Bye Daisy! Love you Dad!"

"Don't forget to call occasionally!" Her dad called as Daisy waved enthusiastically after her. "Good luck, little Shaymin." He said under his breath, a melancholy look on his face.

Daisy noticed the change in her neighbours mood, stopping her waving to look at him with worry.

"Are you alright, Russell?"

"I was just thinking about Teala. She always hoped Leaf would become a trainer one day."

"I bet she would be really proud." Daisy smiled in memory of the woman who would always invite her in for tea and converse with her like an equal, even though Daisy was barely an adult at the time. "And she'd be proud of you too, for raising her daughter so well."

Russell smiled sadly as he watched Leaf running further away and finally fading from out of his sight. "It looks like my Shaymin is ready to fly already."


	2. And so it begins

Route 1 was a simple dirt path surrounded by wild bushes with the occasional tree or patch of long grass. Leaf had been here only once before, the day she met Jigglypuff. She felt a little nostalgic as she gazed around the area in search of pokemon, Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff at her heels.

"You guys see anything?" They shook their heads. "It's kinda quiet out here don't you think? We haven't seen so much as one Rattata so far."

At that moment, a flock of Pidgey flew out of the bushes, clearly having been disturbed by something. Leaf tensed up in fear of being attacked by the tiny bird pokemon, fortunately the flock flew off in another direction and Leaf relaxed.

"Come on; let's go see what that was about." She snuck quietly over to the area where the Pidgey flock emerged from and peered through the bushes. The cause of the commotion was soon revealed when she spotted Green and his Charmander facing away from her. Charmander was standing in an attack position, the flame on his tail burning brighter than when Leaf had last seen him, both Charmander and his trainer had their full attention on a Pidgey hovering in mid-air on the other end of the clearing.

Unlike most Pidgey who were quite docile, this one seemed to have a vicious and hostile air about him, which may explain why it was the only one to not fly away. Leaf gave an involuntary shudder at the sight of the violent look in the tiny birds eyes.

"Ember." Green commanded calmly and Charmander obediently swished his tail, sending sparks of flame flying towards the opponent. Pidgey flapped his wings rapidly and extinguished the embers in midair before they could land a hit. The gust attack was affecting Charmander too; the small fire lizard was trying his best to protect the flame on his tail from the worst of the wind. Pidgey took the opportunity while Charmander was distracted and dove into a tackle attack before the wind had even fully died down. The attack hit and Pidgey flew upwards and out of reach, leaving a confused Charmander wondering what the heck just happened.

Leaf turned her attention towards Green, expecting him to look frustrated or in shock, instead the guy looked positively jubilant. Leaf looked back towards the sky and saw that Pidgey had made a u-turn in the air and was speeding towards a slightly dazed Charmander. Leaf expected Green to call for Charmander to dodge or use ember again but he showed no signs of doing so.

"What is he doing? If that tackle hits at that speed its over!" Leaf watched intensely as Pidgey charged in closer and closer towards the unmoving Charmander. Pidgey was just a second away from landing a direct hit and Leaf was just about to shout out a warning when Green finally reacted.

"Jump now!" Charmander obeyed and Pidgey slammed beak first into the ground where Charmander had just been standing and the lizard pokemon landed directly on top of Pidgey, successfully pinning him to the ground. "Now scratch." The Charmander turned himself around and began fiercely clawing at the back of the grounded birds neck and head while said bird thrashed about furiously trying to escape.

Despite its aggressive nature, Pidgey was still a small pokemon and didn't have the strength to buck the heavier pokemon off it, although his struggling was causing dust and dirt to fly up everywhere and get into Charmander's eyes and mouth, making him cough and stop attacking. Green wasn't going to allow Pidgey to escape though.

"Use ember again." Charmander jumped up and swished his tail again. Although he was blinded there was no way he could miss at such close range, in fact he was so close that his tail made direct contact with the Pidgey, making it more of a slam attack than an ember.

It did the trick just the same, Pidgey looked like he was too exhausted to move. Green took the opportunity to attempt a capture and threw pokeball toward him. Both trainers watched as the pokeball shook once. Twice. Three times. Then finally clicked and stayed still, signifying that the capture was successful. Green calmly walked over and picked up the pokeball containing the first pokemon he ever caught.

"That was awesome!" Leaf popped out of the bushes and ran towards her rival to congratulate him.

Green turned to face her. "Are you stalking me?"

"I wasn't stalking!" She shot back all attempts of friendly conversation forgotten. "I was just in the area when I saw your battle with that Pidgey. That's all."

Green glanced around the area and raised an eyebrow at her, silently pointing out how far off the path they were.

"It's true!" Leaf shouted, making Bulbasaur and Charmander jump (Jigglypuff was used to Leafs fury). "I saw a group of Pidgeys freaking out and went to go look! You weren't exactly being subtle you know."

"Pidgey, huh?" Green smirked scornfully "Did you scream?"

"No!" Leafs felt her face heat up. She nearly did, but he didn't need to know that.

"Whatever. I guess I forgive you for spying. After all, you can't help being in awe of someone who's actually _capable_. It must be such a strange concept for a screw up like you." He held up the pokeball containing Pidgey. Leaf looked at it nervously.

"Sh-shut up! I'll be a way better trainer than you'll ever be! In fact I'm going to be the champion and I'll be totally unbeatable and you'll just be a loser so nyah!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is that so? Well then you'll have no problem facing against a little Pidgey then." Green pressed the pokeballs button and Pidgey appeared directly in front of Leafs face.

Leaf really did scream this time as she became overwhelmed with fear and collapsed to the floor attempting to scramble away. Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff ran to her and tried to calm her down. Bulbasaur had no idea what was going on so he just tried his best to soothe the distressed young girl.

Jigglypuff however, knew exactly what happened and she was _furious_! How dare that brat use her dear friends phobia against her like that! Especially when Leaf had confided in him all those years ago.

"What?" Green noticed Puffs accusing stare. "I'm helping. She won't get anywhere if she has a panic attack anytime she faces an opponent with wings or a beak. Do you know how many trainers use bird pokemon? She needs to get over her fear already. After all, that's what a _Good _trainer would do." He smirked at Leaf. "Lets see you catch a Pidgey oh mighty champion. Or maybe you would prefer a Spearow?"

"Bird pokemon are overrated!" Leaf exclaimed, still shaking but a little calmer. "I'm going to catch a Rattata. They're way better anyway." She turned and ran with Bulbasaur in her arms to find a Rattata and to get away from Pidgey. Puff shot one last dirty look towards Green before following.

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"Oh, Rattata. Come out, come out wherever you are." Leaf was crawling around on her knees in the long grass in search of one of the purple critters.

"This is your strategy for catching pokemon?"

Leaf almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice. "What the heck, Green!"

"Your scaring them all away you know. No pokemon wants a noisy, obnoxious girl like you for a trainer."

"Why are you following me around? Get lost already!"

"You got to see my first battle so its only far I get to see yours, right? You're bound to make a completed fool of yourself so I wouldn't want to miss that."

"Humph!" Leaf turned back to the long grass and did her best to ignore him when she heard Bulbasaur trying to get her attention. "What is it?" Bulbasaur pointed to where a Rattata was casually gnawing on a twig.

"Perfect!" Leaf immediately grabbed a pokeball from her bag and threw it at the Rattata. Predictably the pokemon popped out immediately and fled the scene.

"Nice one." Green quipped as Jigglypuff facepalmed at her friends stupidity. Leaf clenched her fist in anger and stormed off to look for pokemon elsewhere.

_Keep it together Leaf! You weaken the pokemon first. Don't let Green get the better of you. _

Luckily for Leaf, it wasn't long before she found another Rattata, two in fact. They were nuzzling each other happily and looked very serene. Normally Leaf would have picked up on the atmosphere surrounding the two and left them alone but Green had really gotten to her and she wasn't thinking about anything other than proving him wrong.

"Bulbasaur tackle!" Jigglypuff looked shocked at Leafs brutish behaviour and tried to tell her that what she was doing was just plain rude, but the damage was already done as Bulbasaur charged directly in between them, hitting them both.

"Two in one! Great!" Leaf grinned, appalling Jigglypuff further. "Now vine whip!" Bulbasaur used two vines to grab both Rattatas and fling them roughly to the ground. One of them was downed and Leaf wasted no time in throwing a pokeball to capture it. It clicked almost immediately but Leaf didn't have time to celebrate as the remaining Rattata, driven into a frenzy after seeing his mate captured, leaped onto Bulbasaur and began attacking him.

"Whoa! Bulbasaur shake him off and use vine whip!" Bulbasaur began shaking and bucking his body around and the already tired Rattata soon lost his grip and Bulbasaur whacked him across the face with vine whip, knocking him down.

The Rattata attempted to get up again but a pokeball flew out of the bushes and sucked him in. Rattata was too weak to resist and after two shakes the pokeball was still. Green casually strolled out of the bush where the pokeball had come from and picked it up.

"What are you doing?!" Leaf screamed, running to the pokeball with the Rattata she'd caught and clutched it to her chest, as though expecting Green to try and steal it from her. "I fought that Rattata!"

"You already caught a Rattata so I don't see why I couldn't have this one. Don't be such a selfish little girl. Anyway you should thank me for saving your Bulbasaur, there's no way that weedy thing was going to win."

Leaf screamed again and ran towards Green to try and push him down but he grabbed her arms. "You should really calm down. Your freaking out your own pokemon." He nodded towards an anxious Bulbasaur and a worried Jigglypuff.

Leaf pulled herself away from Greens grip. "That was such a cowardly move! Catching a pokemon after I did all the work for you! Can't you catch your own or something? I bet I can catch more pokemon than you ever will."

Green just smirked again; after all he had caught a pokemon that Leaf couldn't even approach without becoming a nervous wreck. "All right then, how about a challenge? Whoever has more pokemon by time the Indigo League starts is the winner."

"What about the Indigo League itself?"

"That too. Whoever gets the most pokemon and whoever gets furthest in the Indigo League. That's two challenges for me to beat you at. You in?"

"I'll be the one beating you! And you can have that stupid Rattata, I bet mines stronger anyway."

"Is that another challenge? Not enough for you to lose twice?"

"Okay fine! Three challenges! Getting the most pokemon, winning the Indigo League, and raising the strongest Rattata. Got that?"

"Fine with me." Green walked past her without so much as a second glance. "Good luck… You'll need it."

Leaf slumped to the ground, shaking with anger. Jigglypuff wanted to scold her for her behaviour towards the Rattata earlier but given the girls current mental state, she doubted it would get the desired reaction, instead Puff patted Leafs hand gently to try and quell her anger. After a few seconds, Leaf jumped up, recalled Bulbasaur and stomped off in the direction of Viridian.

Jigglypuff followed closely and examined Leafs face; she was visibly upset which was understandable given recent events. The biggest cause was probably that brat bringing up her bird phobia. Jigglypuff frowned as she remembered the incident that caused her friends fear, it was on the same day they both met.

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Jigglypuff was walking around route 1. She really had no reason to be there; she had no purpose at that point in her life and lived out her days travelling across Kanto meeting various pokemon and people.

As she walked through the grass in search of berries she suddenly heard screams and some kind of commotion interrupting the tranquil atmosphere. Jigglypuff looked up, expecting to see wild pokemon battling each other but instead was greeted with the sight of a human girl, about four years old, being chased by a large flock of Spearow. In her panicked state, the little human wasn't looking where she was going when she tripped on a tree root. Jigglypuff looked on in horror as the angry flock swooped down on the helpless child.

The girl begged for them to stop but the Spearow would not relent, they pecked and clawed at her as she screamed and pleaded. Jigglypuff acted without a second thought and ran toward the scene, demanding the Spearow stop. Some of them turned towards her and prepared to attack and Jigglypuff decided she needed to use her greatest weapon. So she opened her mouth and began to sing a soothing lullaby.

The Spearow instantly became drowsy and one by one they dropped from the sky and fell into a deep sleep. Jigglypuff stepped past them and checked on the girl who had also been affected by the lullaby, no permanent damage but she was covered in injuries. Jigglypuff picked her up and carried her best she could towards the nearest human settlement, hoping it was where the girl had come from.

Jigglypuff led the girl down on the grass just outside the town out of harms way and waited for her to wake up. It wasn't long before the girl began to stir, when she laid her eyes on Jigglypuff she gratefully hugged the balloon pokemon and introduced herself as Leaf.

Jigglypuff tried to communicate to the girl that she should get her wounds checked and Leaf understood surprisingly quickly. As they walked, Leaf explained that she didn't want her parents to see her so hurt so they were going to her friends house. This was how puff first met green.

Leaf climbed into the garden with Jigglypuff in her arms and knocked on the back door. When the boy opened the door and saw the state his friend was in he pulled her inside and to his bedroom without a word and sat her on his bed. He left the room and came back a few moments later with a med kit in hand. Green began to patch Leaf up as she stroked Jigglypuff's head silently.

"So what happened?" He asked eventually as he applied antiseptic to a cut on Leafs arm. She winced at the singing sensation.

"S-spearows."

"Did you leave town? That's dangerous!"

"I was looking for Ho-Oh…"

"For what?"

"It's a legendary pokemon. Dad told me in a story that Ho-Oh makes magic ash that heals anything. I thought if I found it and asked for some of its ash, I could give it to momma and…"

Leaf fell silent and Green put his arm around her. She started to cry quietly on his shoulder as he held her. "Don't ever do that again okay?" he scolded her gently. Jigglypuff sat on the bed politely keeping quiet when Green looked at her as though he'd only just noticed her.

"Is that one of your family's rescue pokemon?"

"Oh! I forgot." Leaf wiped her eyes and pulled Jigglypuff into a hug. "This Jigglypuff saved my life from the scary birdies! Jigglypuff, this is Green, he's my best friend in the whole world."

Green held out his hand politely to Jigglypuff, which she took. "Thank you for saving Leaf. She means a lot to me even though she can be a real idiot at times."

"Hey!" Leaf feigned offence and pushed Green playfully. He pushed her back lightly and they both laughed.

"Seriously though, if you decide to do something stupid like that again at least tell me. That way I can protect you so nothing bad ever happens again."

"Thanks Green." Leaf leaned over and rested her head on Greens shoulder "I don't think I like birdies anymore…"

Green placed his arm around her shoulder once more. "I'll tell Daisy you're staying over tonight, okay?"

Present day Jigglypuff sighed sadly. Leaf and Green were inseparable when they were younger, but then Green turned into a brat and everything changed. Leaf was never quite the same when they stopped being friends. On the outside it seemed like she was the same lively girl she always was but Jigglypuff knew better. Leaf wasn't as interested in having fun anymore and she always looked so sad when she thought no one was looking.

She gained a bigger temper too, although that was likely because Green was always pushing her over the edge. He knew all her secrets after all, that gave him a lot of ammo to use against her.

Leaf began to speed up and Jigglypuff looked up to see viridian city on the horizon. Leaf broke into a jog and Jigglypuff ran beside her. As they ran, Jigglypuff hoped that despite the bad start, good things were in store for her trainer.


End file.
